For my dissertation back in May '09, i used for reference a book called 'Digital Revolution: The future of music' by David Kusek. Aside from the pretentious title, Kusek's infinite ramblings about the state of the music industry and where it was going, was an interesting if somewhat dated read (the book being published late '04).
By the time Kusek's opus had been bought into print, Myspace had by then been snapped up for 580 million dollars by Murdoch's Newscorp.
In 2005 Myspace.com stood teetering on the precipice of history and artists like 'Artic Monkeys', 'Lilly Allen' and 'Bring Me The Horizon' would ride the wave of this internet phenomena thus establishing themselves and promoting one of the most important cultural by-products of today: that of social networking.
All of this is considerably old hat now as we've seen Myspace rise and embarassingly fall, with the all encompassing popularity of Facebook pounding Murdoch's cash cow into the dust mid-'08. Kusek's book was outdated even in '04, and glancing at his book the other day reminded me how behind i am with the rise and rise of online everything, take this blog for example that i've only just established. Tut tut.
If you're a writer in 2010 not adopting a blog or something as similiar is almost like casting a hex on yourself; how do you expect your overly biased, zealous opinions to enter the public domain?!
I've never taken into account just how important using webspace is for struggling artists, writers and musicians, i'd probably go as far as admitting to be something of a technophobe, the mere mention of the latest software or device and my eyes glaze over and i enter a comatose state of zombiedom.
I'm having to scratch off the habit of a lifetime.
However, i don't think it's all my fault, my age and circumstance have also hindered my net enthusiasm for blogging, social networking and the like, i'd imagine i'm not alone either.
Back in 2005, as Myspace broke and as every 15-18 yr old discovered 'My Chemical Romance' I'd turned 20 and just missed the hype. I percieved myself as being too mature for such youthful antics, therefore avoiding the initial furore of the social networking new wave, and the habit-forming charms of blogging. A habit i'm trying to develop here and now.
The internet is no longer a dirty word, I mean to suggest a realm of computer wizards and geeks who sit around talking techno-jargon and planting viruses to confuse 45 year-old mothers of three.
We'll all in this together now, celebrities like Johnathan Ross and Russell Brand have made Twitter and Facebook acceptable forms of social interaction; the stigma has been lifted. It's not embarassing to talk openly about Facebook plans at work or in coffee shops and the global hegemony of us westerners online is negated as we no longer have complete control of whom interacts with whom across physical borders and boundaries.
It's taken me 5 years to realise just how neccessary blogging is in terms of presenting works to an audience who might ordinarily miss it.
As daunting as i may find the rapidity of the internet, if you fail to keep up you'll find yourself floundering in a graveyard of the outmoded like the MiniDisc and VCR.
Sure, i still use ink and paper for thoughts i've yet to develop and our favourite authors/poets like Miller, Keats and Tolstoy didn't have iPhones, but this is a different epoch and we need to embrace blogging and social networking wholeheartedly.
xo
No comments:
Post a Comment